minutes as we use in a whole year. So, providing we can harness it
that we can use; it is interesting to look at the efficiencies of these
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two percent of solar energy is converted through atmospheric circulation
into wind energy, which although concentrated in windy places is still
distributed through the whole atmosphere. About twenty per cent of solar
energy is used in evaporating water from the Earth‟s surface which
eventually falls as precipitation, giving the possibility of hydropower.
Living material turns sunlight into energy through photosynthesis with an
efficiency of around one per cent for the best crops. Finally, photovoltaic
(PV) cells convert sunlight into electricity with an efficiency that for the
best modern cells can be over twenty per cent.
Around the year 1900, very early in the production of commercial
electricity, water power was an obvious source and from the beginning
made an important contribution. Hydroelectric schemes now supply
about
six per cent of the world‟s commercial energy. Other renewable
sources of commercial energy, however, have been dependent on recent
technology for their implementation. In 1990, only about two percent of
the world‟s commercial energy came from renewable sources other than
large hydro (these are often collectively known as „new renewables‟). Of
this two per cent (Table 11.5), about three-
quarters was from „modern‟
biomass (called „modern‟ when it contributes to commercial energy to
distinguish it from traditional biomass), the other 0.5% being shared
between solar, wind energy, geothermal and small hydro sources.
Returning to commercial energy generation, in order to put renewable
sources into context, it is useful to inspect the detailed projection of the
WE
C (Table 11.5) for the contributions from different „new renewable‟
sources which make up the twelve per cent of total energy supply in the
year 2020 assumed for the WEC scenario C. The main growth expected
is in energy from „modern‟ biomass and from solar and wind energy
sources. Table 11.6 provides detailed summary information about the
status and cost of different renewable energy sources.
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In the following paragraphs, the main renewable sources are
described in turn and their possibilities for growth considered. Most of
them are employed for the production of electricity through mechanical
means (for hydro and wind power), through heat engines (for biomass
and solar thermal) and through direct conversion from sunlight (solar
PV). In the case of biomass, liquid or gaseous fuels can also be
produced.
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